


heavens in the half-light

by tinydragon (tiny_dragon)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 06:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10588755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiny_dragon/pseuds/tinydragon
Summary: in which it's warm outside and Will takes Nico on a walk. because he's lacking in vitamin D. among other things.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this was requested by bailci on tumblr!! thank you for submitting & i hope you enjoyed it!

It’s during the summer. Another one of those days when Will drags Nico outside to enjoy the sunshine and soak up the vitamin D.

Nico complains, because of course he does, but really he doesn’t feel any sort of reluctance. Even when the sun burns his legs, because they’re clothed in black jeans, and he has to squint when looking up at Will. Because he’s tall, and the sun is bright, and it kind of obscures his vision.

Not that he mentions that part.

“So what’s your actual plan here?” Nico asks, trying not to flush because Will’s hand is tight around his wrist, pulling him forward. The two of them are making their way through the Camp Half-Blood grounds, and when you get past the cabins and the hoards of people just arriving back for summer, there is so much green.

It’s funny to think about. For such a long time, all he wanted was dark, and blank spaces. He’d never envisioned a future where all he wanted was to be surrounded by bright light.

(Where the brightest light would hold his hand and make him blush and he’d have no fucking clue where he stands and - yep, time to end that train of thought right there.)

Will shrugs. But he looks back at Nico and gives this grin that kind of makes him melt. Gods. When did he turn into a pack of extra value butter?

“I don’t really have one.”

“So your reason for dragging me out here was…?”

“Well, you need to get some more vitamin D, for a start,” Will says, and with his free hand he turns around mid-walk and expertly ruffles Nico’s hair.

Nico glowers at him.

“We’ve discussed this.”

“No, we haven’t. Anyway, it’s also my day off at the infirmary,” Will says.

“And?”

“And it’s a nice day. And I wanted to hang out with someone who I like.”

“Oh,” Nico says.

“And you’re someone who I like,” finishes Will. His next smile is a little bit shy. Nico has no idea what he’s supposed to say, so he makes a kind of grunting noise.

“Eh. Right. Okay. Cool,” he says.

“Thanks for the input, di Angelo,” Will tells him. Nico wants to say something else, but he’s a little socially inept, and anyway, Will is already turning around and walking on, leading him further into the greenery. 

They’re stepping underneath a roof of trees as Will leads him down a path that Nico hasn’t really explored before. The sunlight is piercing through in streaks. Will is still holding his arm and everything feels very, well, warm.

It’s not scary, is the thing. Liking Percy, everything had felt kind of lonely and cold. Like, he supposes, being under the sea, a fish outside of its school. Looking in through a window when nobody would open the door. Being with Will, it’s exactly how it feels. It’s like being underneath the sun. Even when it’s raining, Nico supposes, it’d still feel like he’s underneath the sun.

“I’ve never been down here before,” Nico confesses. They come out into a clearing, overlooking the lake from a different point than Nico is used to. They’re hidden up here. There are campers out canoeing, but the likelihood is that they can’t be seen.

The harpies are another matter, but they’ll be a pain in the ass no matter what happens, so.

“No? See, this is why you should always trust me,” Will tells him. “I have great ideas. I’m your official Camp HB tour guide. I’ll expect full payment at a later date.”

“I’ve been back here a year, Solace, I hardly need a tour guide.”

“Well, clearly you do, else you’d know about all the great places to hide, wouldn’t you?”

Will lets go of Nico’s wrist, and flops down into the tall grass. Nico follows suit, sitting down awkwardly amid the overgrowth. It tickles at his chin and the gaps where his skin shows through his ripped jeans. Will notices, and flicks the strands away from where they tickle.

“Goosebumps,” he notes. He isn’t wrong; they’re scattered across Nico’s knees already. “You that ticklish?”

“Tell anyone, and I’ll kill you in your sleep,” Nico says, very calmly. Will cackles.

“Never mind, I don’t need any payment. That fact alone is enough.”

“Solace.”

“Oh, don’t worry Nico. I won’t tickle you now. I’ll bide my time with my attack, and get you when you least expect it.”

Nico sighs in exasperation. “I am going to tell my father to make sure you are judged _very_  harshly when you’re in the underworld in fifty years.”

“I’ll be fine,” Will says, undeterred. “I’ll charm the old devils. Who could resist this face?”

Not me, Nico thinks. And then he thinks: shut up, Nico.

“You’ll be old and wrinkled.”

Will winks. Nico is ice cream in the Texan desert.

“I’ll still have it,” he says.

Nico rolls his eyes. Will’s hand moves away, and onto the grass, splaying out near enough to Nico’s that their fingers touch. They’re quiet for a moment. Will coughs. It feels like a _moment,_ but Nico doesn’t really have anything to define what a moment really means. He’s not sure what he’s supposed to do with this.

The sun is hot on his neck. Will’s fingers twitch, like they’re itching to reach out. Nico’s throat feels a little hoarse, and after a few moments the quiet takes over the easy banter from moments ago fades away. Like sunlight on a misty day, like ocean lapping over the sandy shore.

“So,” Will says. “Um.”

“Yeah?” Nico prompts. With his other hand, the one not close enough to Will to touch, he’s playing with strands of grass and plucking daisies. He hopes the children of Demeter don’t find out any time soon.

“So, I maybe lied to you a little bit.”

“Never took you for a liar, Solace. Surprised your nose didn’t grow out. Like that Disney kid. What’s his name? Kuzco?”

“No, Gods, Nico. That’s the Emperor’s New Groove, you idjit. You're talking about Pinocchio.”

Nico did actually know that. Something about Will Solace, he has learned, is that he is very passionate about Disney references being made correctly.

“Yeah, him,” Nico says. He coughs. He didn’t need to cough. “Go on?”

“I kind of did have a plan, when I dragged you out here. I guess. An agenda? No, that makes me sound like a businessman - I just. I wanted to talk to you,” the words are rambled, and not very Will-like. He sounds a little shy. Everything is so warm. Something is rattling in Nico’s chest, and he’s pretty sure it’s his heart. It’s pumping too much and for once it’s in a kind of fear that feels pretty good.

“Oh, yeah?” Nico pushes. “And what was that?”

“Just, I -” Will looks like he’s considering something. Nico looks up, just at the wrong (right?) moment, because he catches Will’s eyes and finds that his cheeks are dusted pink. The dude is blushing. Nico might die.

“Yeah?” Nico’s voice is very small. Will’s eyes close for a heartbeat. And then they open again and they’re looking at Nico’s and then they’re dropping down and looking at his lips.

“Can I, um…?”

And Nico doesn’t say anything but he nods. His brain goes white and it’s hard to think anything coherent. And then, quick as a flash, Will leans over and he kisses him, quickly, light as a feather or a ghost’s touch. He presses his lips against Nico’s and pauses for just a moment, and then he pulls back. And his face is on fire.

Like the son of the sun God has got fucking sun burn.

“Yeah,” Will says. He’s speaking very quickly when he continues, “so, like, yeah. That was kind of. The Plan. In a non creepy way though, oh Gods. Like. I just really like you a bit, and I’ve never liked anyone this much. And I’ve never done that before, either. If it wasn’t obvious. So. Yeah. That’s the big reveal.”

“Oh,” Nico says, like an idiot. “Okay. Yeah. That’s - that’s cool.”

“Was that okay? Will asks anxiously and Nico wants to kiss him again.

“I’ve, um, I’ve never kissed anyone before either,” Nico tells him. He swallows. “That was - that was good. I like you too. That’s why - I nodded. Like, yeah.”

“I hope I didn’t ruin your first kiss,” Will says, eyes wide like saucers. Or maybe the moon. “Nico-”

“Shut up, Solace. It was fine. It was more than fine,” Nico’s words are rushed too. He’s not one for blushing, but he feels like his cheeks are hot too.

His first kiss. Will Solace. A sunny day where everything is bright and beautiful and burning. It feels kind of perfect - a million worlds away from the cold clammy ghost world of Tartarus. Exactly as it should be.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Nico pauses. “You can - again, if you want. That’d be - that’d be okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Will smiles, looking relieved. He leans over, and he kisses Nico again. Really slowly, because he’s never done this before and they’re both shy and stumbling in a kind of equal way that makes it feel better. He’s tentative, but so is Nico, and when their lips touch it’s nice. Will’s lips are warm, and his kiss is warm too. It’s light, the way he presses his lips there, and then repeats himself. Making slow movements. 

His hand curls out from underneath him, and takes Nico’s. He’s still kissing him, pulling back every few seconds to check that it’s still going okay. And he’s holding his hand, rubbing his finger in slow circles against his skin.

Nico smiles against his lips. Will feels it, the way that his mouth curves, and he smiles too. He pulls back.

“What?” Will asks. He’s still smiling. Fuck that, he’s beaming.

“Nothing,” Nico says.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Will kisses him again. His lips are warm, and his hand is, too.

**Author's Note:**

> i am on tumblr at willsolaced! please come and give me ideas so i can write more about these nerds, and feedback so i can get better at writing


End file.
